Candice Groesbeck: Delay with report cards is simply unacceptable

Posted: Saturday, December 10, 2005

Since the inception of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, I've wondered exactly how the educational accountability program works. Thanks to the Athens Banner-Herald, (Story, "Report cards to be delayed," Dec. 1), I now have a better understanding. To be more accurate, the program should be titled No Child Left Behind Except in Cases Where the State Department of Education is Behind.

According to the story, it is going to take longer than usual to get some scores on end-of-course tests back from the state, so students in Clarke County and other public school systems won't get report cards until January. The story indicates the delay is coming because "state educators must review a sample of the tests to make sure new standards aren't set too high or too low."

Students who took those tests and are awaiting the results did so on time. Is it too much to ask the state Department of Education to complete its work in a timely manner as well? What kind of message does that send to students? Evidently, the test standards are too high. The state Department of Education cannot even review sample tests in time to allow some students to know if they can advance in their courses or graduate on time.

Or maybe the test standards are not too high - maybe our standards for our Department of Education are just too low.

I realize No Child Left Behind parameters filter down from the federal level. It would appear that once again the feds are going to "stay the course" with no plan being the plan. What a shame if a few students get lost in the crossfire.